Hired a car through Rentalcars. They took my money, gave misleading information - I did not use the car or leave the car hire place with it and now they refuse to give my money back. i have been robbed and paid for a service I didn't receive. Spent over an hour on the phone to their customer service where the 'Manager' told me that because they were not registered there was nothing I could do. This is the same manager 'Ben Goddard' who laughed at my situation, told me to understand his frustration when I was left with no car or money, he insinuated I must be poor if I needed the refund and was completely unhelpful and disrespectful. Appalling service, stay well away and if you do happen to use them.. Make sure that you read the FAQs not the terms and conditions as they have hidden information in there and misleading information during the booking process.
I, through Rental Cars.com booked a weeks rental with Firefly car rental for 305.00 in Cancun Mexico. Apon arival at the rental car agency in cancun I was told that the total cost of the rental was dramatically different that the 305.00 I paid on my credit card. I was told the cost would be and additional 375.00 to secure the rental which I refused to pay The agent then quoted me another price if I paid cash for 350.00. I was in a foriegn country and in deperate need of the car to get to my destination. My wife and I proceded to call Rental cars.com to cancel the rental to which they replied I would still be liable for the cancelation fee of 3 days per their agreement/terms and conditions. Rather than fight over the phone after a long day of travel, I concluded I would just despute the original credit card charge when I got to my hotel.
I had done so only to have rettal cars.com negate the dispute and Capital One still charge me the full amount on my credit card. Reason: I could not prove I cancled the transction. I NEVER used their service yet somehow I am being scammed out of 305.00 due to the fact that they do not vet their vendors for unscrupulous practices. There is no doebt that the rental car company (Firefly) affiliated with Hertz was trying to rip me off but what choice did I have but to agree to their terms and rent for cash a vehicle or pay double what was agreed to and paid for by Rental Cars.com
I rented a small car with Rentalcars.com for he 10th January, 2015 until the 11th - so ONE day. The rental agency at the Brussels aiport was Hertz.
I pre-paid the car $103.00. When I returned the car after ONE day, I got another bill of $168.00 which was billed AMEX.
So my total bill for ONE day (Opel Corsa) was over $270.00.
I called both parties and NONE was willing to find out where the mistake was - in fact they did not assume thereak was a mistake.
After wasting about 2 hours trying to handle this overbilling, I had to tell them I would dispute the bills with AMEX. Both agents told me "I can understand:... but did nothing to help.
I rented a car in Bordeaux through rentalcars.com, and when I arrived at the Europcar rental desk I was told that they couldn't accept my American credit card because the numbers weren't embossed. When it became clear that they weren't going to budge, we put the car rental on my European friend's credit card. The cost was the same in Euros as it had been in dollars, but we just wanted to get the car rented. Later, I discovered that my card had been charged by rentalcars.com and my friend's card had also been charged for the same rental.
When I contacted rentalcars.com they kept arguing that we had not been double charged and finally said that the charge on my card was for the car rental, and the charge on my friend's card was for additional insurance. We had been told by Europcar that the total charge including insurance was the 76 euros that was charged on my friend's card.
I requested a copy of the agreement from rentalcars.com, but they never provided it. It's clear to me that they have no interest in providing any sort of good customer service, and that they are going to keep my money. I will NEVER use them again, and will be happy to pay a little more to go through a reputable company.
I looked up rental cars on Kayak and rentalcars.com was by far the cheapest so I paid the $350 to reserve. I get to the airport to pick up my car and they say I owe an additional $400 for misc fees ($7/day fee, and all sorts of other silly fees). I immediately said this is bullshit but sure enough in the fine print it states "Premium Location Fee - 3% - 24% of rental extras charges. Road Fee/ Road Licence Fee - $7.15 per day". Are you f'ing serious! Of course they charged 24% and not 3%.
I will NEVER EVER use this company again and seriously think they should be banned from renting cars and scamming people into thinking they are getting a good deal when in fact you actually pay double the rate of what you could have rented a car for. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!
#1. When I got to rental place car class was different from what I reserved. I was traveling internationally and when I got to Nice, FR airport they provided completely different car class. They have very strange agreement with Budget and Avis rental. I would never trust again, especially traveling Internationally, rules and tearms very different.
#2. I had a family emergency and I returned car 3 days earlier, they did not refund any money. I made an international call from oversea rental office, Rentalcars.com representative was very rude and said will not refund anything. Told me to read small letters tearms&conditions online. I left car anyway 3 days earlier and left. Rute customers service.
#3.Insurance (- 3rd Party Liability ) Liers, don’t be fooled, there is no insurance. You are on your own
No support! Very sad! Be aware! Don't Book using Rentalcars.com
We had booked through rentalcars.com a 12 person passenger van. We paid with a pre-paid Visa Card, which was charged in full. When we double checked with our bank about using the card for other services while we would be vacationing in Orlando, they assured us that we could use our card as any normal credit card, as it is like any other credit card.
When we arrive in Miami to pick up our car, so we can drive to Orlando, the Budget car rental rep (with whom rentalcars.com confirmed the rental with), refused to give us our (fully pre-paid) car. They claim that they cannot accept the Visa card. Nor would they accommodate us by accepting a cash deposit. Instead they showed us to the car rental next door to get another car!
That car rental E-Z- Rental car saved our lives and gave us a 15 person van for the price of a 12 person van and they did take out Visa card to hold for a $200 deposit.
When we asked the Budget rep about the money we had paid for our rental, he said to claim with the company with whom we booked the car from, rentalcars.com.
After a long and tiresome drive to Orlando (the same day), I went online and send rentalcars.com an email explaining what happened.
After several emails, explaining that I couldn't cancell before (didn't have internet access at Miami international airport), nor was I near our hotel (which was in Orlando) to be able to call someone, this is what I get:
CANCELLATIONS RESERVATIONS FULLY PAID FOR AT THE TIME OF BOOKING:
Can be cancelled online free of charge up to 48 hours before the start of the rental. Reservations cancelled within 48 hours of the start of the rental will be charged a fee equal to a 3 day rental. There will be no refund or additional charge for reservations less than 3 days in duration. Where the vehicle cannot be picked up due to insufficient documentation or failure to provide a valid credit card this will be treated as a cancellation made within 48 hours provided we are advised at the pick-up time.
NO SHOWS A 100% cancellation fee will be charged where we are not notified of cancellation prior to the start of the rental. This includes where the vehicle cannot be picked up due to insufficient documentation; failure to provide a valid credit card; and/or failure to collect the car at the specified time / date
This matter is now closed.
Kind regards,
Maddox Davenport
No where in their terms and conditions does it state that the car rental company won't take pre-paid credit cards.
How were we supposed to know that, especially since rentalcars.com did accept our card for the full week rental and so did every other place we used it at, including the other rental company, the hotel for the incidental deposits and other establisments in the US?
Was our card an 'invalid' credit card? and if so, how did rentalcars.com charge us for the full rental then?
This was a rental of 731.11 Euros, which is almost $1000,-!
Rentalcars.com is a total fraud (and spammers too)
This company (which is part of Priceline) has lots of terms and conditions which work against you and we have ended up with paying €256 for *nothing* in the end. Here is the story:
On a family trip in Italy, we have made reservation for a car rental from this website in May 2013. We have especially requested a navigation device during reservation to find our way easily around the country.
On 19th of May we went to SicilyByCar desk at Rome Termini Station to pick up our car. We paid the deposit, signed the papers and got the keys. When we arrived at the parking lot to pick up the car, we were told that they have no navigation device available! We had to go back to train station (which is 300m away) and ask the lady at SicilyByCar desk. When we asked why she had not told us that navigation device was not available before and made us go through all the signing papers and paying deposit procedure, she did not have any answer at all! We were really disappointed and frustrated.
The only way to go was cancelling the reservation and renting another car from another dealer. So I called RentalCars.com customer services and was told that I need to pay half of reservation fee as a penalty and that was because the pickup time had passed. But we had not get in the car at all! Just because the pick-up time has passed we were made to pay €256 for nothing, simply nothing! All we get was disappointment and frustration in the middle of our trip. Not to mention the half of day we lost during reservations.
When I have placed a complaint, I got a response a month later, which says this is according to their terms and conditions and they will do nothing about it. The rep's last sentence in the email was:
"We are not in position to refund you the rental price and we now close the matter"
That's all I was able to get back.. (oh, and daily spam emails)
Rental seems cheap online, until you arrive at the rental company. I chose Firefly worst company I had ever dealt with for hiring a car. I took my VISA debit card to which I was told I can not use, even though rentalcars.com took my money from this card origionally.
They tried to rip me off with extra insurance, pay for over priced full tank of fuel. Take 600 Euro's from my account for deposit.
Since I have rented very many cars in past, this is the worst service I have ever encountered, Rentalcars.com are now refusing to refund my money. Since I decided I was not going to pay all the extra charges they where asking for.
Avoid at all costs. What seems cheap will sting you when go to take the car. Stick to a reputable car hire company. Sixth car hire closeby said they have numerous customers not happy with Firefly that use them instead.
I rented a vehicle in Belize through this website. At the time that I reserved the vehicle, I was charged $512.00. When I arrived in Belize and went to pick up the vehicle, I was told that I had only paid $384.00 for the rental of this vehicle. Consequently I had to repay that difference, even though I produced a receipt that I had printed at the time I reserved the vehicle.
When I filed a complaint with carrental.com, I was told that this matter would be resolved within twenty eight days. Finally after approximately seventy five days, I received an e-mail from them stating that the car rental agency (Avis) had charged me for insurance and that this was where the difference was as far as what I had to pay to them. I am not disputing the insurance that I purchased. My dispute comes from the inaccuracy of what I was initially charged for the rental of the vehicle vs. what I was charged for in addition to the insurance.
These people claim to have millions of satisfied customers all over the world. Don't believe it for a second.
I rented the car online at the beginning of November 2013 online. My mom told me i didn't need the rental car insurance, so i attempted to find their number on their site. There isn't a phone number. It directs you to an email contact request. So on November 22nd, i emailed the company requesting a cancellation of the insurance. There was no response. I finally found a phone number and the person on the phone said to email them. I thought i was fine, however on November 16th, they charged my card. I picked the car up on December 1st and immediately called rental cars.com, got a person and this time they said i would have to cancel the whole rental to get the $55 back and would need ot do it by email. I again sent an email and got a confirmation email almost immediately that the car had been cancelled. It said in the email that my credit card has been refunded. To this date, December 12th, It has not been reimbursed. When i phoned in to the company again, the person on the phone said i needed to contact their customer service and of course, they were not available at the time. It was 12:00 Noon pacific time, and i find it hard to believe they were not open. I need to get my refund and am trying to contact my credit card company as well as priceline and rentalcars.com again.
I used rental cars.com for the first time because I was in the midst of a complicated relocation from the UK to Canada and didn't have time to research car companies individually. Big mistake!! Rentalcars.com charged me nearly three times as much as Avis actually charges for the car in Canada. Rental cars.com is taking advantage of people like me who are moving between countries frequently and don't have time to research the real rates of cars in a given country. Needless to say, I will never use them again, and I hope this warning helps others in similar situations.
Rentalcars.com Reviews
Hired a car through Rentalcars. They took my money, gave misleading information - I did not use the car or leave the car hire place with it and now they refuse to give my money back. i have been robbed and paid for a service I didn't receive. Spent over an hour on the phone to their customer service where the 'Manager' told me that because they were not registered there was nothing I could do. This is the same manager 'Ben Goddard' who laughed at my situation, told me to understand his frustration when I was left with no car or money, he insinuated I must be poor if I needed the refund and was completely unhelpful and disrespectful. Appalling service, stay well away and if you do happen to use them.. Make sure that you read the FAQs not the terms and conditions as they have hidden information in there and misleading information during the booking process.
I, through Rental Cars.com booked a weeks rental with Firefly car rental for 305.00 in Cancun Mexico. Apon arival at the rental car agency in cancun I was told that the total cost of the rental was dramatically different that the 305.00 I paid on my credit card. I was told the cost would be and additional 375.00 to secure the rental which I refused to pay The agent then quoted me another price if I paid cash for 350.00. I was in a foriegn country and in deperate need of the car to get to my destination. My wife and I proceded to call Rental cars.com to cancel the rental to which they replied I would still be liable for the cancelation fee of 3 days per their agreement/terms and conditions. Rather than fight over the phone after a long day of travel, I concluded I would just despute the original credit card charge when I got to my hotel.
I had done so only to have rettal cars.com negate the dispute and Capital One still charge me the full amount on my credit card. Reason: I could not prove I cancled the transction. I NEVER used their service yet somehow I am being scammed out of 305.00 due to the fact that they do not vet their vendors for unscrupulous practices. There is no doebt that the rental car company (Firefly) affiliated with Hertz was trying to rip me off but what choice did I have but to agree to their terms and rent for cash a vehicle or pay double what was agreed to and paid for by Rental Cars.com
I rented a small car with Rentalcars.com for he 10th January, 2015 until the 11th - so ONE day. The rental agency at the Brussels aiport was Hertz.
I pre-paid the car $103.00. When I returned the car after ONE day, I got another bill of $168.00 which was billed AMEX.
So my total bill for ONE day (Opel Corsa) was over $270.00.
I called both parties and NONE was willing to find out where the mistake was - in fact they did not assume thereak was a mistake.
After wasting about 2 hours trying to handle this overbilling, I had to tell them I would dispute the bills with AMEX. Both agents told me "I can understand:... but did nothing to help.
I rented a car in Bordeaux through rentalcars.com, and when I arrived at the Europcar rental desk I was told that they couldn't accept my American credit card because the numbers weren't embossed. When it became clear that they weren't going to budge, we put the car rental on my European friend's credit card. The cost was the same in Euros as it had been in dollars, but we just wanted to get the car rented. Later, I discovered that my card had been charged by rentalcars.com and my friend's card had also been charged for the same rental.
When I contacted rentalcars.com they kept arguing that we had not been double charged and finally said that the charge on my card was for the car rental, and the charge on my friend's card was for additional insurance. We had been told by Europcar that the total charge including insurance was the 76 euros that was charged on my friend's card.
I requested a copy of the agreement from rentalcars.com, but they never provided it. It's clear to me that they have no interest in providing any sort of good customer service, and that they are going to keep my money. I will NEVER use them again, and will be happy to pay a little more to go through a reputable company.
I looked up rental cars on Kayak and rentalcars.com was by far the cheapest so I paid the $350 to reserve. I get to the airport to pick up my car and they say I owe an additional $400 for misc fees ($7/day fee, and all sorts of other silly fees). I immediately said this is bullshit but sure enough in the fine print it states "Premium Location Fee - 3% - 24% of rental extras charges. Road Fee/ Road Licence Fee - $7.15 per day". Are you f'ing serious! Of course they charged 24% and not 3%.
I will NEVER EVER use this company again and seriously think they should be banned from renting cars and scamming people into thinking they are getting a good deal when in fact you actually pay double the rate of what you could have rented a car for. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!
Extremely unhappy using Rentalcars.com
#1. When I got to rental place car class was different from what I reserved. I was traveling internationally and when I got to Nice, FR airport they provided completely different car class. They have very strange agreement with Budget and Avis rental. I would never trust again, especially traveling Internationally, rules and tearms very different.
#2. I had a family emergency and I returned car 3 days earlier, they did not refund any money. I made an international call from oversea rental office, Rentalcars.com representative was very rude and said will not refund anything. Told me to read small letters tearms&conditions online. I left car anyway 3 days earlier and left. Rute customers service.
#3.Insurance (- 3rd Party Liability ) Liers, don’t be fooled, there is no insurance. You are on your own
No support! Very sad! Be aware! Don't Book using Rentalcars.com
We had booked through rentalcars.com a 12 person passenger van. We paid with a pre-paid Visa Card, which was charged in full. When we double checked with our bank about using the card for other services while we would be vacationing in Orlando, they assured us that we could use our card as any normal credit card, as it is like any other credit card.
When we arrive in Miami to pick up our car, so we can drive to Orlando, the Budget car rental rep (with whom rentalcars.com confirmed the rental with), refused to give us our (fully pre-paid) car. They claim that they cannot accept the Visa card. Nor would they accommodate us by accepting a cash deposit. Instead they showed us to the car rental next door to get another car!
That car rental E-Z- Rental car saved our lives and gave us a 15 person van for the price of a 12 person van and they did take out Visa card to hold for a $200 deposit.
When we asked the Budget rep about the money we had paid for our rental, he said to claim with the company with whom we booked the car from, rentalcars.com.
After a long and tiresome drive to Orlando (the same day), I went online and send rentalcars.com an email explaining what happened.
After several emails, explaining that I couldn't cancell before (didn't have internet access at Miami international airport), nor was I near our hotel (which was in Orlando) to be able to call someone, this is what I get:
CANCELLATIONS RESERVATIONS FULLY PAID FOR AT THE TIME OF BOOKING:
Can be cancelled online free of charge up to 48 hours before the start of the rental. Reservations cancelled within 48 hours of the start of the rental will be charged a fee equal to a 3 day rental. There will be no refund or additional charge for reservations less than 3 days in duration. Where the vehicle cannot be picked up due to insufficient documentation or failure to provide a valid credit card this will be treated as a cancellation made within 48 hours provided we are advised at the pick-up time.
NO SHOWS A 100% cancellation fee will be charged where we are not notified of cancellation prior to the start of the rental. This includes where the vehicle cannot be picked up due to insufficient documentation; failure to provide a valid credit card; and/or failure to collect the car at the specified time / date
This matter is now closed.
Kind regards,
Maddox Davenport
No where in their terms and conditions does it state that the car rental company won't take pre-paid credit cards.
How were we supposed to know that, especially since rentalcars.com did accept our card for the full week rental and so did every other place we used it at, including the other rental company, the hotel for the incidental deposits and other establisments in the US?
Was our card an 'invalid' credit card? and if so, how did rentalcars.com charge us for the full rental then?
This was a rental of 731.11 Euros, which is almost $1000,-!
Rentalcars.com is a total fraud (and spammers too)
This company (which is part of Priceline) has lots of terms and conditions which work against you and we have ended up with paying €256 for *nothing* in the end. Here is the story:
On a family trip in Italy, we have made reservation for a car rental from this website in May 2013. We have especially requested a navigation device during reservation to find our way easily around the country.
On 19th of May we went to SicilyByCar desk at Rome Termini Station to pick up our car. We paid the deposit, signed the papers and got the keys. When we arrived at the parking lot to pick up the car, we were told that they have no navigation device available! We had to go back to train station (which is 300m away) and ask the lady at SicilyByCar desk. When we asked why she had not told us that navigation device was not available before and made us go through all the signing papers and paying deposit procedure, she did not have any answer at all! We were really disappointed and frustrated.
The only way to go was cancelling the reservation and renting another car from another dealer. So I called RentalCars.com customer services and was told that I need to pay half of reservation fee as a penalty and that was because the pickup time had passed. But we had not get in the car at all! Just because the pick-up time has passed we were made to pay €256 for nothing, simply nothing! All we get was disappointment and frustration in the middle of our trip. Not to mention the half of day we lost during reservations.
When I have placed a complaint, I got a response a month later, which says this is according to their terms and conditions and they will do nothing about it. The rep's last sentence in the email was:
"We are not in position to refund you the rental price and we now close the matter"
That's all I was able to get back.. (oh, and daily spam emails)
Rental seems cheap online, until you arrive at the rental company. I chose Firefly worst company I had ever dealt with for hiring a car. I took my VISA debit card to which I was told I can not use, even though rentalcars.com took my money from this card origionally.
They tried to rip me off with extra insurance, pay for over priced full tank of fuel. Take 600 Euro's from my account for deposit.
Since I have rented very many cars in past, this is the worst service I have ever encountered, Rentalcars.com are now refusing to refund my money. Since I decided I was not going to pay all the extra charges they where asking for.
Avoid at all costs. What seems cheap will sting you when go to take the car. Stick to a reputable car hire company. Sixth car hire closeby said they have numerous customers not happy with Firefly that use them instead.
I rented a vehicle in Belize through this website. At the time that I reserved the vehicle, I was charged $512.00. When I arrived in Belize and went to pick up the vehicle, I was told that I had only paid $384.00 for the rental of this vehicle. Consequently I had to repay that difference, even though I produced a receipt that I had printed at the time I reserved the vehicle.
When I filed a complaint with carrental.com, I was told that this matter would be resolved within twenty eight days. Finally after approximately seventy five days, I received an e-mail from them stating that the car rental agency (Avis) had charged me for insurance and that this was where the difference was as far as what I had to pay to them. I am not disputing the insurance that I purchased. My dispute comes from the inaccuracy of what I was initially charged for the rental of the vehicle vs. what I was charged for in addition to the insurance.
These people claim to have millions of satisfied customers all over the world. Don't believe it for a second.
I rented the car online at the beginning of November 2013 online. My mom told me i didn't need the rental car insurance, so i attempted to find their number on their site. There isn't a phone number. It directs you to an email contact request. So on November 22nd, i emailed the company requesting a cancellation of the insurance. There was no response. I finally found a phone number and the person on the phone said to email them. I thought i was fine, however on November 16th, they charged my card. I picked the car up on December 1st and immediately called rental cars.com, got a person and this time they said i would have to cancel the whole rental to get the $55 back and would need ot do it by email. I again sent an email and got a confirmation email almost immediately that the car had been cancelled. It said in the email that my credit card has been refunded. To this date, December 12th, It has not been reimbursed. When i phoned in to the company again, the person on the phone said i needed to contact their customer service and of course, they were not available at the time. It was 12:00 Noon pacific time, and i find it hard to believe they were not open. I need to get my refund and am trying to contact my credit card company as well as priceline and rentalcars.com again.
Summer / Las Vegas, NV
I used rental cars.com for the first time because I was in the midst of a complicated relocation from the UK to Canada and didn't have time to research car companies individually. Big mistake!! Rentalcars.com charged me nearly three times as much as Avis actually charges for the car in Canada. Rental cars.com is taking advantage of people like me who are moving between countries frequently and don't have time to research the real rates of cars in a given country. Needless to say, I will never use them again, and I hope this warning helps others in similar situations.